Chapter Three

"Hurry the hell up!" Lilly was yelling from downstairs at Sheenah who was trying to make sure she had not forgotten any essential. "God if we miss our flight because of you I'll kill you. I thought doctors were supposed to always be punctual and..."

"I'm here! I'm here." Sheenah declared while dragging her suitcase and thinking of how unfit she was. Just a trip down the stairs and a little, okay, lots of packing, had her sweating like a pig. She really needed to start some serious fitness training. "Gosh, you are so dramatic."

"Look whose talking about drama when you are the one who packed your whole closet for a one week vacation." Lilly retorted back.

"First of all, one week is a long time, Mombasa is very far from Nairobi and a girl can never have enough clothes." Sheenah replied, while making her way to the trunk of Lillys BMW X1.

"And here I thought Tash was the designer of the group." Lilly rolled her eyes, settling into the drivers seat of her magic ride.

After everything had been safely tucked inside the car, Sheenah settled herself beside her best friend and relaxed, breathing in the flowery scent of the car and feeling comfortable. She sighed and closed her eyes, allowing her whole body to relax and for a moment, forget all her problems, drama and every baggage that was associated with her. She was after all going to Mombasa raha.

The Nairobi April weather was a hot one and as Lilly navigated through the highway to the airport, she regretted wearing a fur coat, even though it was a sleeveless one. "Turn up the AC." Sheenah ordered, eyes still closed.

"Bossy." Lilly said, but still did as ordered.

Sheenah briefly opened her eyes to side eye her friend before shutting them once more. She was closest to Lilly. The two understood each other better, maybe it was in the fact that they were of the same age but whatever the reason, they were like two puzzles that fit in perfectly together. They were both there to call each other out when one was going astray, which often was Lilly since Sheenah was too guarded and rarely let down her walls to the extent of doing something stupid.

"Any new expeditions I should know of?" Sheenah asked, eyes still closed.

"Geez, I just had a heartbreak, some comforting words would be much appreciated." Lilly said, as she made her way through the busy highway.

Silence settled in the car and Sheenah opened her eyes to see if Lilly was joking, smiling or even smirking. On seeing that her friend was serious, she immediately sat straight and bit her lower lip. Maybe she shouldn't have asked that, she regretted. Maybe Lilly had really loved Mark. Upon realizing her mistake, guilt washed over her and she immediately apologized. "I'm sorry." she whispered softly.

Lilly was silent for sometime before the mischievous glint in her eyes intensified and she burst out in laughter. She laughed so hard that Sheenah who was shocked, then annoyed started smiling and chuckling softly.

"I was kidding." Lilly said between laughter. "You should have seen your face." She added before bursting into fits of laughter again.

"Whatever." Sheenah answered, going back into her previous position, only this time, her eyes remained open. She looked at Lilly who was still smiling, and thought of how sharing laughter with your friends was among the best feelings in the world. She briefly recalled how her friends were the one who supported her through every moment of her pain, grief and struggle. How they never failed to uplift her spirits. How they never gave up on her, even when she felt like doing so herself. Her eyes started glistening, with both unsaid gratitude and unshed tears. She quickly blinked and sighed silently, she wasn't going to become an emotional mess right now. She was way past that.

'Keep telling yourself that.' Her inner voice mocked and she quickly shut it off.

Comfortable silence settled in the car before Sheenah blurted, "you loved Mark?"

Lilly suddenly choked on her own saliva, which would have been funny, only she almost lost control of the vehicle. "What?!" She asked, which came out as a whiz.

"I mean, you've only broken the rules with two guys. Mark and Graham. Grahams case is understandable, but Mark? I thought you two had something special."

Lilly coughed, and after regaining breathing normalcy, paused for a bit before answering, "I don't know." She whispered, and Sheenah didn't know if it was from the choking incident or fear, but her friends demeanor had changed, she seemed lost?

"I'm in the kind of situation where I can't give you, or anyone else for that matter, a reason for my actions. I just feel it in my guts that I made the right decision. Instincts, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand. I just hope you won't get hurt later on." Sheenah shivered, recalling a tragic memory. "Mark was nice."

"Don't worry, Jack was a jerk. Everything will be fine. I won't get hurt. I promise."

The two smiled at each other and enjoyed the warmth of sisterhood. They both silently, in their own heads, agreed that relation of friendship was greater than that of blood. How could they not when they were living testimonies of it?

"Mushy!" Lilly fake yelled, and they both laughed. The rest of the ride was filled with both of them listening to Nigerian music and arguments of how Kenyan music wasn't getting enough airplay in their own country.

***

"Tash and Kendy are already here. I'll just call Leon to come pick up the car. He said he had a gig around JKIA or something." Lilly said, busy scrolling through her phone.

"Aw," Sheenah cooed. "I've missed my baby."

Lilly side eyed her friend before muttering, "that's child molestation Shee."

"Oh please, Leon's a big baby now."

"But he's still my baby brother. Never forget that."

"As if."

After unloading the trunk, Sheenah made her way inside the airport while Lilly remained behind, waiting for her brother to collect her car. She received stares, that she became conscious of herself.

Sheenah was a beautiful woman. Everyone around her thought so, and told her but when the people she needed to hear that fact from did the opposite, she nowadays had doubts. She tugged at her dress and increased her pace. The guy who was helping her with her luggage trailing behind her. Upon seeing Tash and Kendy, she was grateful and almost sprinted to them.

"Woah." Tash held her hand, "slow down. Whose chasing you?"

Sheenah smiled nervously and thanked the guy, not before tipping him off. She then turned towards her friends and smiled. Then lied to them, "I'm just glad to see you guys."

Kendy rolled her eyes, she wasn't buying the lie, but let it pass all the same. "Where is Lilly?"

"She was waiting for Leon to pick her car. I think... There she is." Sheenah pointed at Lilly, who unlike her, was enjoying the attention she was getting, and thriving in it.

"And her majesty with her grand entrance." Tash said, with a fake accent.

"Tadda!" Lilly smiled. She hugged both Kendy and Tash before standing beside Sheenah, grinning.

"You couldn't bring My Lion to say hi." Tash accused.

"Y'all obsession with my brother is alarming."

"We can't help it when he's the cutest in that dragon family of yours." Tash replied, and quickly bit her lip at the double meaning of her statement.

Awkward silence settled among them, each ones eye darting around uneasily. Lilly was the one to break that moment, "I'm not missing a one week vacation because y'all decided to freeze yourselves here." She declared, rather joyfully while dragging her bag, leaving the others.

Sheenah let out the breath she had been holding. That was what made Lilly such a darling, she was a moments kind of person. She never held grudges and let things go very easily, unlike the other three; Kendy was just dramatic and would always blow things out of proportion, Tash would call you out the instant shit was said and Sheenah just bottled up things.

After some eye warning, aimed at Tash from Kendy, the other two joined Sheenah who was ahead.

***

Tash scoffed loudly, earning the girls attention. They were all settled in their seats, on a 45 minute flight.

"What's up?" Sheenah asked.

"Miss CR." Tash answered. Upon hearing the name, all of them groaned.

"What's her problem this time?" Sheenah asked.

"She reacted to one of my designs and said they aren't authentic." Tash was pissed.

"Such audacity. What the hell?" Kendy defended.

"What's her issue with you all the time?" Lilly asked, seeming more pissed than Tash herself.

"I don't know, maybe the fact that we are both bloggers and designers, competing for the same space. I just wish she wouldn't try so hard to bring me down." She shook her head.

"Maybe she's insecure. Feels threatened by you."

"She's pretty talented herself. I saw her works during the Motor and Fashion event. Mad stuff." Tash answered Kendy.

They all shook their heads, failing to understand Miss CR's hate. When they finally arrived in the coastal city, they called for car service and soon made their way to The Pearl, a luxurious resort where they were going to spend the next one week of their lives, Kendy excluded. She couldn't extend her stay like the rest of them.

After settling in the room; which was a shared one large room with four beds for each one of them, they sprawled on their beds, relaxing and enjoying the view of Nyali beach from the room. After a while, Kendy went to freshen up, Lilly just lazed around while Tash was digging through her suitcase to find the perfect outfit for tonight and Sheenah was just observing the view their room offered and admiring it.

"Taita has the most beautiful ladies, don't you think?" She asked out of nowhere.

Tash stopped her search for a moment to scoff, before resuming, "you either don't know the meaning of beauty, or you're just tired from the flight."

"Woah," Lilly butted in. "Who doesn't know the meaning of beauty? Sheenah?" She looked between Tash and Sheenah. "You are the one who doesn't know what you are saying if you think Sheenah doesn't know the meaning of beauty. I mean look at that face." Lilly pointed at Sheenah, who stood at the window, visibly embarrassed. "I don't know what you mean if you say she doesn't know the meaning of beauty."

Tash looked perplexed for a moment before smiling. There was like an unspoken rivalry of wits between her and Lilly, which she was going to make sure she won, just like most of her battles. "Wait a minute." She raised both of her hands, dropping a sundress she was carrying in the process. "How did this conversation turn to you in the first place." Lilly rolled her eyes at this, before shrugging and mouthing 'it's a free country'. "And how did we turn from knowing which tribe had the most beautiful ladies to showering praises to Sheenah, which I agree to be true but still."

Sheenah stood by the window, more embarrassed than anything. She didn't know why she'd asked that in the first place but regretted it more than anything. "Girls, let's change the subject please." She begged, hating the ruckus she had caused. Tash and Lilly were by now in a heated game of wits, the sole subject being the country's tribes and their beauty.

"I think Sheenah is a mixture of Kamba blood and something else. But Kamba is definitely there." Tash remarked, voting for Kamba ladies being the most beautiful.

"Why? We don't even know her parents tribe. They could have been a mixture of anything. Luo, Luhya, Kikuyu." Lilly answered back, not wanting to concede defeat but also forgetting that they had, in the process of their argument, touched a sacred line of conversation.

Sheenah stood there shocked, and slightly pained? Very slightly. She quietly made her way to her bed, which wasn't yet made and breathed in slowly and quietly. She was past that point, wasn't she? The point of crying when she heard the mention of 'Sheenah's parents' . The point of getting hurt and feeling pained. The point of feeling unworthy and depressed and devastated. She was past that point. She repeated a mantra in her head, to keep herself from crying. Why in all her twenty eight years of living did it suddenly have to hurt now? She breathed deeply again, and blinked rapidly, to keep herself from crying.

"You okay Abby?" Kendy asked, wrapped in her towel. Normally, Sheenah would have glared at the name, but this moment wasn't normal. Sheenah nodded and forced a smile.

"Yeah." She breathed heavily. "I'm fine. I think it's the weather." She lied. "It's probably getting to me."

Kendy rolled her eyes, not believing the lie, again. She had always been the skeptical one among them. She smiled warmly at her friend with eyes full of concern. Sheenah wished she could spill her worries and insecurities. So that she could be free, once and for all. But she couldn't.

***

"You look sophisticated." Lilly complimented Tash, who looked glamorous in her dark blue velvet dress that hugged her body perfectly and complimented her light skin tone.

"The joy of dressing is an art, and I'm an artist and I also happen to be going to an art event, what better way to make make an entrance than with a statement."

"You were just required to say thank you Tamara, that's all." Lilly answered back.

"I like being extra."

"We all do." Kendy butted in. "Now let's leave before we are late." She was already at the door and Sheenah chuckled inwardly at this. Kendy was leading the way when she was as ignorant on the event as the rest of them apart from Lilly who was the one who actually got invited but decided to tag along with her girls.

As they made their way to the car they had hired, Sheenah just hoped she wouldn't feel left out. This week was supposed to be full of fun...

And definitely life changing.

***

Mombasa raha; is the name given to Mombasa county, the coastal county of Kenya as it is usually the destination of most vacations and is mostly accompanied with fun and relaxation.